胡金莹

澳大利亞环境部把东部沿海多地的树袋熊保护级别从“易危”升为“濒危”。树袋熊从不受保护到成为易危物种再到濒危物种仅仅用了10年左右的时间，因此，保护树袋熊势在必行。

Koalas were declared to be endangered in eastern Australia. More koalas are dying from disease， lost habitat and other threats.

Earlier， koalas had been considered as a vulner-able species （易危物种）. Federal Environment Minis-try lowered their conservation status on the country's east coast in Queensland， New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. However， the government's Threatened Species Scientific Committee recommended that changes should be made because many koalas in Australia suffer from chlamydia， a kind of disease that can cause blindness or infections.

Australia has lost about 30 percent of its koalas in the past three years. In 2020， an in-vestigation warned that the species might become extinct before 2050 without immediate help. The number of koalas in Queensland has fallen by half since 2001 because of lack of water， fires and deforestation. Also， some are killed in attacks by dogs， or hit by cars.

“Koalas have gone from no?listing to vulnerable to endangered within a decade. That is a shockingly fast decline，” said Stuart Blanch， who is a conservation scientist with the World Wildlife Fund?Australia. He added that koalas will go extinct if new laws are not passed to protect forests.

The Australian Koala Foundation estimates that there are less than 100，000 koalas left in the wild or there may be as few as 43，000. The summer forest fires in 2019 and 2020 killed at least 6，400 koalas. Rescue workers tried hard to save them and treat their injuries. “There have been many pressures on the koala. The big fires， of course， were a tipping point. We know the koala is vulnerable to climate changes and diseases，” said a govern-ment official in Australia. She said the government is working to protect the animal and now vaccines are being given to koalas to prevent and treat chlamydia， and drones are be-ing used to study them and rebuild their habitat.

The government believes that listing koalas as endangered animals will bring attention to them and help address threats. However， some conservation groups argue that more has to be done to prevent their extinction. The Australian Koala Foundation has called for laws to protect them and prevent land clearing and mining projects that are destroying their habitats.

ReadingCheck

1. Why should koalas' protection status be changed？

A. Because their living habitats are quite limited.D1F06254-D527-440D-AAF7-DBE3A549AB70

B. Because they are unique animals in Australia.

C. Because they are easy to suffer from diseases.

D. Because they are the most vulnerable animals.

2. What does paragraph 3 intend to tell us？

A. Koalas are in great danger.

B. Koalas are a vulnerable species.

C. Koalas can't avoid natural disasters.

D. Koalas will probably die out in 2050.

3. What mainly caused the koala population to drop greatly？

A. Deadly diseases. B. The big forest fires.

C. Lacking enough food. D. Changing climate.

4. What measures should be taken according to the Australian Koala Foundation？

A. Listing koalas as endangered animals.

B. Making relevant laws to protect koalas.

C. Creating suitable environments for koalas.

D. Forbidding land clearing and mining projects.

LanguageStudy

Ⅰ. Difficult sentence in the text

However， the government's Threatened Species Scientific Committee recommended that changes should be made because many koalas in Australia suffer from chlamydia， a kind of disease that can cause blindness or infections. 然而，政府的濒危物种科学委员会建议应该做出改变，因为澳大利亚的许多树袋熊都患有衣原体病，这是一种可能导致失明或感染的疾病。

【点石成金】本句中recommended后为that引导的宾语从句，从句的谓语动词用“（should）+do”构成的虚拟语气的结构;because many koalas in Australia suffer from chlamydia， a kind of disease that can cause blindness or infections為because引导的原因状语从句;a kind of disease that can cause blindness or infections为chlamydia的同位语。

Ⅱ. Text?centered chunks

die from 死于（某种原因）

consider... as... 认为;把……看作是

suffer from 受折磨

chlamydia n. 衣原体病D1F06254-D527-440D-AAF7-DBE3A549AB70